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Greensboro College adds 12 percent more freshmen

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Wednesday, September 2, 2009

(Updated Thursday, September 3 - 8:06 am)

By Joe Killian
Staff Writer

GREENSBORO — Despite recent financial and leadership troubles, Greensboro College opened the new school year with strong enrollment — even increasing its number of honors students.

There are 1,254 students enrolled this fall, the school said Tuesday — seven fewer than last semester. About 650 of those students are full-time and 237 are freshmen — a 12 percent larger freshman class than last fall.

Many people on and off campus had expected a drop in enrollment given the concern over the college’s high debt.

Longtime President Craven Williams retired in July amid questions about his financial leadership.

“We were just so glad that people continued to believe in the school and continued to be attracted to what we have to offer,” said Carter Pate, chairman of the board of trustees.

Pate, a Greensboro College alum and a managing partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, took over the chairmanship last month. He’s been working with faculty, staff and the college community to turn the school around the way he has resurrected failing businesses throughout his career.

“This enrollment news is just a great thing for the school and for the community,” Pate said. “In any turnaround, it doesn’t happen overnight, but we feel like this show of support is what we needed at this point in the process.”

Pate said he was encouraged by the number of students qualifying for the college’s honors program — fifty this fall, up from 22 last year.

“I think it says we’re still attracting high-quality students and we’re going to continue to do what we can to do that,” Pate said.

Next up for the school: finding an interim president. Longtime faculty member Paul Leslie has been acting as CEO since last month. He’s working with a leadership team of trustees, faculty, staff and students to find the school’s next president.

Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com

Accompanying Photos

Staff photo (News & Record)

Photo Caption: The campus of Greensboro College.

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wolfpackgrad

September 2, 2009 - 9:12 am EDT

Enrollment has never been a big problem at this college. The problem is when you see the real school after you have signed on the dotted line. The poor living conditions, the classes you need to graduate aren't offered as promised and in the meantime the tuition goes up. No one mentions the ones who transfer out after they have been there for 2 yrs. I hope THAT will be one of the changes in the upcoming semesters.

youvegottobekidding

September 2, 2009 - 10:45 am EDT

650 full time students? Part time students make up almost half of the total enrollment? Is that correct?

greeneyes

September 3, 2009 - 2:35 pm EDT

FYI: 650 is the number of traditional full-time students. The rest of the student body is made up of full-time/part-time adults, teacher licensure, and graduate students.

frogger

September 3, 2009 - 12:39 pm EDT

I worry that GC may not be able to sustain itself. Yes the freshman class is up about 25 - 30 students, with the increase of honor's students explaining most of this increase. However, a previous article indicated that the honor's students could attend tuition free for four years, as long as they paid for room and board (pretty much a wash).

The freshman class is about 40 % of the full time student base. This confirms what Wolfpackgrad says about the extremely low retention rate at GC. Once students get there, they often see the run-down facilities that they are not shown on their campus visits.

I agree with all the comments about the administration and faculty at GC. Craven Williams acted like a dictator and would not allow any member of the faculty or staff to criticize him; it would have been the kiss of death. Now that he is gone (along with the Board President) GC at least has a chance. I have heard from several sources, with no way to verify it, that Williams was given a handsome severance package by the board to get him to stand down and once he did, the President of the Board immediately stepped down), If so, GC is still paying.

I think that most of the teachers are very dedicated to the students. One problem for many of them is that they have no other place to work and are stuck at GC. GC has never rewarded scholarship in any form of merit system (promotion, tenure, pay raise). All service can be done in-house. In addition to the low salaries, funding for scholarly activities is also minimal. Without a scholarly portfolio GC faculty would have a difficult time going to another college or university in good economic times. In times like these, where there are hiring freezes at many schools, it is virtually impossible.

Finally, enrollment downturns are striking many liberal arts colleges in these depressed economic times. While I personally feel that a liberal arts based education makes a better employee, it makes it difficult to find entry level positions in many fields. Enrollment at many institutions have increased significantly this year, even at some liberal arts based colleges and universities, both public and private. Those that have not are generally ones with non-descript degree programs or those with no significant reputation (outside its home city) like GC.

I hope I am wrong, but I am not confident of the future. I cannot see GC hiring a long-term president in its current state. Anyone who applies is likely to be near retirement age in case it goes under or to be seeking a job at a major college or university if they are able to save GC.

While it may not seem like it, my prayers are with the faculty and alumni.